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201422May

There's a mistake airfare event occurring on Priceline right now, involving flights from New York to Europe to Asia for $130-$177 after taxes! Yes, that's right, all 3 continents for $130!

Getting from Toronto to New York for a low price is easy. Getting between Milan and Prague is easy. The hard part is getting back from Asia for a decent one way price to make this a ridiculously cheap around the world trip. Using points or miles to get home might be the best option.

For those that wish to dive into this one, here's the details:

1. Go to Priceline.com - This seems to be the only site showing these fares at the moment (Orbitz was earlier).

2. Click on 'Flights' and then 'Multi Destination'

3. Click the + symbol beside the 'Choose Date' calendar to add a leg to the flight.

4. Search for a flight from...

Leg 1: New York (JFK) to Milan, Italy (MXP) on November 2Leg 2: Prague (PRG) to Tokyo, Japan (NRT) on November 12

5. Hit 'Search Flights'

screenshot:

As of right now, the flights are bookable. I don't expect this will last too long as it's clearly a mistake. The number one rule for mistake fares, don't ever call the airline or booking agencies, as this will alert them to the mistake (and honestly, you are much better off booking it online anyways, as speed is of the essence with these sorts of fares).

If you're anxious to book, but still need time to think about it, keep in mind that airfare bookings can be canceled without penalty if it's within 24 hours. So a person could book immediately, but still have some time to think about it while they sort out the logistics. Here's a link to the Priceline cancellation policy regarding airfares.

- Looked to be dead on Priceline but found the flights on Hipmunk, which redirected to the Priceline booking page fine. Got through the payment screen and it sent me a confirmation. Not sure if it'll be cancelled later on but so far so good. Adventurous times ahead! (6:47 PM EST)

- I've been playing with the dates and you can choose from September to spring 2015 if you want. It gets a bit more expensive for Xmas and NYE time. Cheapest dates are in November from what I found. Just looked up November 14-24 and got $168 (6:50 PM EST)

- There's even Australia for $350 in December. "Interesting... could get home from Australia with a one way to Hawaii, and then one way back to Toronto/Buffalo." (10:50 PM EST)

- "For the first leg, search for a US city served by Alitalia (it seems to be Alitalia coding on the first leg that triggers the error, whoever the operating carrier is). JFK and LAX reportedly work, although I haven't been able to reproduce any fares out of LAX. Use Milan's MXP airport as the destination. As I said above, mid-week departures seem to return the lowest fares.For the second leg, use a European city served by Alitalia, KLM, or Air France with a destination in Asia. Mid-week dates return the lowest fares." source: freequentflyerbook.com

- One thing I noticed is that after a bunch of searches, Priceline stops showing the Alitalia flights. Just close the browser and re-open. That should bring them back. Also you can use incognito mode in Chrome.

- Most dates seem to be about $200 higher now. Most results are showing $350 as opposed to $150. (11:20 AM EST)

- Eric: Just to give a heads up to any of you who booked the cheap flights to Asia, there are some good prices for return flights now available. I just booked my return flight from BKK to YYZ in April 2015, with 1 three-hour stopover in Mumbai, for $473 ($486 after taxes and fees). The rest of the week is in the $500's for the same flight - normally around $750-850. Here's a link to the deal

- If you can't see the New York JFK to Milan MXP portion of your ticket, don't panic.Its not cancelled...you can call Alitalia and ask for seat selection. They will ask for your confirmation number and select your seat for you. 1-800-223-5730 is the Alitalia call center number, option 3.

- Can I earn miles with this mistake fare?

If you are in this for miles be aware that you may not earn miles, especially on Delta.

Delta: If you booked directly on carrier websites you may earn miles. If you booked through Priceline, reports seem to vary on whether you can earn the miles or not.

Alaska: No miles can be earned on the Alitalia segments. No miles can be earned on most of the Air France or KLM segments because of the fare code. On the Delta segments you can earn miles if you have a 006 ticket.

KLM: Yes (will be at 50% or 25% depending on the exact fare booked)

Air France: Yes (will be at 50% or 25% depending on the exact fare booked)

Alitalia: Yes (will be at 50% or 25% depending on the exact fare booked)

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